Bell log: Assertive Community Treatment

When a large part of a program’s mission and daily process is connecting in person with service users, an isolation/quarantine situation is far from ideal. Bell’s Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team is finding ways to adapt in order to continue their strong commitment to being there for the people they serve.

April 8: Kris Stroup sent along a small story of a donation to the ACT office from Catholic Harvest, including cereal, milk, meats, fruits, breads, sweets, veggies, butter, nuts, and cheese.

ACT Staff member Nnebuwhe Ochiobi gives the details about the Catholic Harvest donation:

Yvonne, Maria and myself registered about 15 of our clients so far with Catholic Harvest. It’s a 1x a day, up to 30 days, food pantry. Once the registration was complete, we were emailed a food list to complete, according to what the client likes. Catholic Harvest would then fill boxes and then we would would go pick them up, sort, bag/re-box and distribute to our folks in need.

They have been very accommodating after we explained that many of our clients reside independently and are unable to transport themselves to pick up the food.

We are very grateful for their assistance.

The community engagement team’s Becky Young shared this report after a conversation with Kris Stroup, director of mental health services:

March 30: Bell’s ACT team has organized themselves into team units, working on certain days. One team works in the office Monday and Tuesday and the other team works on Wednesday and Thursday. Fridays they use to either catch up with clients or work from home on projects. They are doing their best to stay at a distance with clients while still also assisting them with the needs of daily life and making sure they have their medications. The ACT psychologist is able to talk with clients on the phone and will meet face-to-face in case of an emergency.